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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646061">Under the Milky Way</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/groovyjinn/pseuds/groovyjinn'>groovyjinn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, DannyMay 2020 (Danny Phantom), Gen, Loneliness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:29:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646061</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/groovyjinn/pseuds/groovyjinn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny ponders about his lonely future in the Ghost Zone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Under the Milky Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was posted on my Tumblr and I just thought I'd share it here too. It was originally written for DannyMay2020, based on the isolation prompt.</p><p>ALSO, this is <em>the</em> first thing I wrote for the phandom. It's also the first creative piece I've written in like..6 years?? Let me know what ya think!</p><p>Title from the song by The Church (and it's a total coincidence how well the song relates to this lol)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Danny let out a sigh, his breath dissipating into the glowing swirls of energy novas in the ghost zone. He was in his ghost form, perched on a tiny clump of purple land, miles away from the Fenton portal, Walker’s prison, Skulker’s island. Completely alone.</p><p>He wanted to go back to the simpler times. When every night he used to sneak up to the observatory above his home and counted the star constellations and dimly glowing planets he could barely distinguish. It was his dream to go out there and step foot on those planets himself. It was ever since he was a kid. And he fought for that dream. Begging his parents to take him to space camp, memorizing by heart how far away every recorded planet is, locking himself in the dryer to simulate a practice takeoff. </p><p>He was ambitious. Was. Past tense. Now, that glee from imagining stepping on the moon was lost. Barely a childhood memory. Sitting here in the most isolated part of the ghost zone, he thought this is probably what space is like. Like David Bowie’s Space Oddity. </p><p>Jazz was always telling him to take time for himself. He really missed her. Although, she seems to be having the time of her life at Harvard, learning straight from professors who devoted their lives to psychology and meeting people who actually cared for intellectual discussion. </p><p>Sam was out at some protest. What was it…the Amity Park Zoo? Even though Sam’s aggressive activism was sometimes annoying, and downright got him in trouble at times (Exhibit A: the lunch lady ghost), he still found it incredibly admirable. She was always so passionate, never relenting until some action was done for a cause she deeply cared about. Despite the constant discouragement from her parents, she still fights for what she believes in. With that trait, Danny knows she’ll go far in life.</p><p>Tucker…he was at something called a hackathon? Contrary to Danny’s initial thought, a hackathon was not something where you try to hack as many computers as possible. Although, Tucker would probably participate in something like that too. Being a part of Team Phantom really taught him so much. Having to hack into systems on the fly to thwart Technus’ evil plans or remotely erase footage of Danny’s transformations definitely honed his skills. So much that when he voluntarily disclosed a severe cybersecurity flaw in some multinational corporation’s system, they promised to pay for his entire undergrad and give him a guaranteed job placement after. Danny is so happy for him. He was set.</p><p>Danny’s parents were out hosting the world’s first (serious) ghost conference. After months of careful planning, perfecting their inventions to be displayed, and contacting various ectoscientists around the world to be guest speakers, this week the conference finally kicked off. Jack and Maddie Fenton are now seen as world-renowned experts in their field. Danny is so so proud of them. For years he saw first-hand the hard work they put into their research. It’s nice to finally witness them experiencing real success and respect.</p><p>Danny? That dream of becoming an astronaut was still just a childhood memory. He just couldn’t spark that same feeling he used to feel from reading NASA’s latest discoveries. Why couldn’t he find joy in it anymore? </p><p>Probably, inertly, he knew it would forever remain a dream. First off, he was hardly passing his classes. His grades were far from applicable for any astrophysics program in the country. More importantly, he has bigger responsibilities, bigger than his meager aspirations. Like Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility, blah blah blah. Defending Amity Park from evil ghosts has taken over his life.</p><p>Not only his life, his friendships too. Honestly, the last time he properly hung out with Tucker and Sam was in sophomore year. Everything they do together now has something to do with Team Phantom. He couldn’t blame them though, ghost hunting took up an enormous chunk of their time too. With the little time they had for themselves, they needed to prepare for college applications. Danny wouldn’t jeopardize their futures like that.</p><p>As for Danny’s future, he only saw a lonely never-ending path of protecting the world. Would he get weaker as he gets older? Well, Pariah Dark probably should answer that. Would he actually die? Or does his halfa status grant him immortality? He should ask Vlad sometime. </p><p>Eventually everyone will leave him and go on with their own lives. It was inevitable. He was already seeing it starting.</p><p>It wasn’t just here, isolated in the ghost zone, where he felt lonely. </p><p>It was kinda comforting, sitting here. It’s difficult to explain. Like seeing his inner sentiments displayed in front of him in brutal honesty.</p><p>He couldn’t go back to the simpler times. How could he just forget his passion for space? His parents, Tucker, Sam, Jazz–they all had their own passions. They were set on a road to doing what they love for the rest of their lives. Danny knows he always has that opportunity of salvaging his grades, taking another year to meet the requirements for college. But, he really couldn’t care less. What would it matter? Eventually he would get distracted again. </p><p>So here he was. </p><p>A bright orb of ectoenergy shot off in the distance, resembling a shooting star. Apart from that, complete silence enveloped him. Until his stomach began to rumble.</p><p>Sighing once more, Danny stood up and started towards the direction of the Fenton portal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Bug me on <a href="https://srsly-messed-up-fruitloop.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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